- Challenges in Teaching Biology — everything that Alison says about teaching biology is true of teaching computer science. Read, learn, evolve.
- First Open Source Netflix Projects Released — Curator makes Apache Zookeeper easier to use. (via Ian Kallen)
- LLVM3 Released — these are key tools for reliable development of fast systems. I think of it as JVM without the bloat, though undoubtedly that’s unfair to both Java and LLVM. (via Hacker News)
- Scribe — Zooniverse tool for crowdsourcing transcriptions. (via Tim Sherratt)
"netflix" entries
Four short links: 2 December 2011
Changing Education, Netflix Open Source, LLVM3, and Open Sourced Transcription Tool
Four short links: 1 August 2011
Visual Illusion, Newspaper Economics, Native Web Apps, and Document Store Query Language
- The Flashed Face Effect Video — your brain is not perfect, and it reduces faces to key details. When they flash by in the periphery of your vision, you perceive them as gross and freakish. I like to start the week by reminding myself how fallible I am. Good preparation for the rest of the week… (via BERG London)
- The Newsonomics of Netflix and the Digital Shift — Netflix changed prices, tilting people toward digital and away from physical. This post argues that the same will happen in newspapers. Imagine 2020, and the always-out-there-question: Will we still have print newspapers? Well, maybe, but imagine how much they’ll cost — $3 for a local daily? — and consumers will compare that to the “cheap” tablet pricing, and decide, just as they doing now are with Netflix, which product to take and which to let go. The print world ends not with a bang, but with price increase after price increase. (via Tim O’Reilly)
- Phonegap — just shipped 1.0 of an HTML5 app platform that allows you to author native applications with web technologies and get access to APIs and app stores.
- UnQL — query language for document store databases, from the creators of CouchDB and SQLite. (via Francisco Reyes)
Visualization of the Week: A map of regional movie tastes
Netflix's local favorites reveal regional film preferences and oddities.
Do our movie preferences vary by location? A visualization of Netflix rentals and views suggests that they do.
Open question: Which streaming services do you use?
Are you loyal to one streaming service or do you sample from a streaming buffet?
New usage patterns are emerging as streaming services go mainstream. With that in mind, I'd like to find out how Radar readers puts streaming products to use.
Strata Week: Shop 'til you drop
Stack Exchange goes in-house, Netflix pays for platforms, survey data gets visualized, and Infochimps acquires Data Marketplace
In this edition of Strata Week: Stack Exchange takes their hardware and software in-house; Neflix explains their adoption of AWS and open source; the New York Times maps out survey and census data; and Infochimps acquires Data Marketplace.
Strata Week: Shop ’til you drop
Stack Exchange goes in-house, Netflix pays for platforms, survey data gets visualized, and Infochimps acquires Data Marketplace
In this edition of Strata Week: Stack Exchange takes their hardware and software in-house; Neflix explains their adoption of AWS and open source; the New York Times maps out survey and census data; and Infochimps acquires Data Marketplace.
Three Paradoxes of the Internet Age – Part Two
This gem from Whimsley makes the point – with extensive statistical modeling supporting the argument – that our algorithm-obsessed, long tail merchants are actually depleting the overall choice pool despite the fact that as individuals we may be experiencing a sense of more choice through recommendations engines. “Online merchants such as Amazon, iTunes and Netflix may stock more items than your local book, CD, or video store, but they are no friend to “niche culture”. Internet sharing mechanisms such as YouTube and Google PageRank, which distil the clicks of millions of people into recommendations, may also be promoting an online monoculture.”
Point-Counterpoint: On Digital Book DRM
In the first part of a point-counterpoint exchange, Peter Brantley outlines reasons why DRM is bad for book publishers.